A Closer Examination of Family Group Decision Making inChild Placement

proven to be a useful way of incorporating additional community
resources into the child welfare system.145

Similar to the tribal practices found in Ethiopian, American
Indian, and Alaskan Native familial structures, the FGDM model was
adapted from the native Maori people in New Zealand.146 FGDM was
implemented in response to the European-driven models that
overlooked families and indigenous tribal groups.147 The Maori’s
unique approach to social problem solving brings together the
extended family and friends of parents who have neglected or abused
their children to develop a plan to protect these children.148 Noting its
success within the Maori people, in 1989, the New Zealand
legislature mandated that all families involved in the child welfare
system implement this model, with a number of American courts
soon incorporating this strength-based, family-centered, and child-focused approach as well.149 Family Group-Conferencing is intended
to confront the inherent imbalances between child welfare agencies
and the minority populations they serve.150 For this reason, the use of

149 Id.; REENTRY PRACTICES FOR TRIBAL YOUTH: FAMILY GROUP DECISION
MAKING CONFERENCING 1, 2 [hereinafter REENTRY PRACTICES FOR TRIBAL
YOUTH],
http://www.tribalreentry.org/sites/tribalreentry.org/files/FCDMC_Brief.pdf. The
number of communities in the United States using FGDM grew from five in 1995
to over one hundred in 2000. Crampton, supra note 145, at 175.